A thunderclap on a calm day! The island had not anticipated that the Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) would make another major move! After Tsai Ing-wen's May 20 speech, due to her retreating and refusing to discuss cross-strait issues, it was widely expected in the island that the PLA would not take significant actions. However, a week later, the island's defense department became increasingly uneasy because they observed more and more PLA aircraft, warships, and naval helicopters in the Taiwan Strait. The island completely failed to grasp what exactly was happening.

On May 27, the island's defense department released information stating that at around 8:15 AM on May 27, multiple types of aircraft, drones, shipborne helicopters, and fighter jets totaling 27 sorties were detected conducting intensive activities over the waters surrounding the island. In the past 36 hours, the island reported that 61 sorties of military aircraft were active in the surrounding areas of the island, with at least 10 warships of various types and 4 maritime police vessels also operating in the waters around the island.

The island originally assumed that the alert after May 20 had been lifted and that there would be no further incidents across the strait. However, they did not expect the PLA's actions to intensify. Against this backdrop, British media claimed that the PLA already has the capability for a surprise attack on Taiwan, and rumors are flying on the island. Some rumors suggest that if unification by force occurs, the PLA will choose to act on a weekday afternoon. Other media have suggested that the PLA should act before a typhoon arrives in four hours.

Clearly, whether it is our actions, foreign media speculation, or public opinion on the island, all these seem to point to one thing: resolving the Taiwan issue is imminent. With the PLA's military presence becoming routine to this extent, amidst real and false moves, the island cannot accurately judge our true intentions. An expert noted that the PLA's strategy of "boiling a frog in warm water" is steadily advancing, as the less sensitive the island becomes to normalized military actions, the more conducive it is to resolving the Taiwan issue.

Original article: https://www.toutiao.com/article/1833263965557065/

Disclaimer: The article represents the views of the author alone.